Someone asked St. Paisios the Athonite (+ 1994):
- Elder, when the Prophets Elijah and Enoch come back in order to preach repentance, will people understand what is happening, and come back to their senses?
- Those who have a good predisposition will understand. Those who aren’t positively predisposed will not understand and will be misled. Our Lord had warned us that we must be very careful, because “false christs and false prophets shall arise, and they shall give signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect” (Mk. 13:22).
There are some who mistake certain deluded persons for prophets. Several years ago, there was a Protestant who constantly wandered around with a leather briefcase which had an inscription on it, written in English: "I am the Prophet Elijah!" He wore a short-sleeved shirt, he had a Bible in English and he claimed to have descended from heaven!
When they asked him what he believes in and what religion he belongs to, he said “Eh, they are obsolete things. Religions didn’t exist then!” See? To him, everyone – Catholics, Protestants, Pentecostals, all the heresies and all the branches of heresies - are the same to him. Isn’t it obvious from this detail what the matter is? And oh, how many letters did that person send me! He would write down various passages from the Holy Bible and all his positions were Protestant. He would also send a whole lot of letters to various other people, sometimes from England and sometimes from other places. There were those who believed the things he wrote and they wanted to publish in a magazine that the Prophet Elijah had come. “Are you in your right minds? What on earth are you about to do?” I said to them. Poor people, they are so confused!
From Elder Paisios of Mount Athos: Spiritual Counsels, Vol. 3.
